MTSS in Education: Examples and Comprehensive Overview
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a framework designed to provide a comprehensive and equitable education for all students. By merging instruction with data across social, emotional, and behavioral needs, MTSS supports whole-child education. It guides teachers and leaders to make data-driven decisions, streamline high-quality instruction, and bolster positive behavioral supports. This proactive approach identifies challenges early, relying on the expertise of classroom instructors. It addresses academic, behavioral, and social-emotional learning (SEL) needs through a system of tiered interventions tailored to individual student requirements. MTSS is not merely a set of interventions but a preventative and proactive framework adaptable to any educational environment.
The Genesis and Importance of MTSS
MTSS was developed to help educators provide whole-child support for academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs. It's importance lies in its ability to merge instruction with data across social, emotional, and behavioral needs, supporting whole-child education. It guides teachers and leaders to make data-driven decisions, streamline high-quality instruction, and bolster positive behavioral supports. This proactive approach identifies challenges early, relying on the expertise of classroom instructors.
Core Components of MTSS
At its core, MTSS is characterized by several key components:
Data-Driven Decision Making: MTSS relies heavily on data to inform every aspect of the educational process, from identifying students who need support to monitoring the effectiveness of interventions.
Tiered Support System: Like triangular building blocks, MTSS has three levels. All students fall into the first tier. Students who need support (as determined by screening, classroom reports, academics, data collection, or a combination of these) will be placed into another tier. The three-tiered approach is the foundation of MTSS. This is the foundational level. It’s all about offering quality universal school-wide instruction and support. For students who need more than just foundational support, Tier 2 helps. Tier 3 is the most specialized. If a student needs personalized, intense support, this tier ensures they get it.
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Progress Monitoring: Just as a coach tracks an athlete’s performance, MTSS tracks student progress. Educators can best monitor students’ progress with reliable tools and a consistent approach.
Collaboration: MTSS fosters schoolwide collaboration and elevates staff agency in contributing to student success.
The Three-Tiered Approach
The three-tiered approach is the foundation of MTSS.
Tier 1: Universal Support: This is the foundational level, providing quality, universal, school-wide instruction and support for all students. All students receive high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction in their ELA class. Teachers use a standardized curriculum that is designed to meet the needs of most students. At Tier 1, schools can support families with strategies for community-wide engagement.
Tier 2: Targeted Support: This tier provides additional support for students who need more than just foundational support. Students identified by their teachers as needing more help than is offered in Tier 1 receive more reading support. This might include smaller group instruction with more frequent progress monitoring. The interventions are targeted, meaning they focus on specific skills such as phonemic awareness or comprehension. For Tier 2, schools can offer tailored engagement opportunities.
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Tier 3: Intensive Support: This tier offers the most specialized and intensive support for students who need personalized attention. Students with significant needs-those not making progress in Tier 2-move into Tier 3, the “top” of the MTSS triangle. This level of support is the most intensive and individualized. It likely includes one-on-one instruction or specialized programs designed to address reading difficulties. The efficacy of these interventions is closely monitored, and progress is assessed regularly to ensure student improvement. At Tier 3, schools might create individualized spaces for families participation.
The Diamond Model
While the triangle framework is more widely adopted, the diamond model continues to gain momentum. Some schools use the MTSS diamond framework that extends to learners needing advanced curricula or acceleration. The diamond model encourages a more strengths-based approach. A student needing Tier 2 support on the behavior side may also need better academic engagement and acceleration on the enrichment side.
Intervention Plans
No matter whether your school uses a triangle or diamond approach to MTSS, students in tiers 2 and 3 will be given an intervention plan. An intervention plan is a structured approach that educators use to support the specific needs of individual students. Interventions are specific strategies that help students achieve their goals. The goal of MTSS interventions is to support whole-child success, yet some schools struggle to clearly identify and monitor interventions due to lacking an organized and collaborative system.
MTSS vs. RTI: Understanding the Nuances
MTSS is a broad, comprehensive framework that can intensify support for academic, social-emotional, and behavior challenges. RTI focuses primarily on academic interventions, particularly for reading and math. MTSS is built to address whole-child needs. Its first tier provides schoolwide support. In RTI, the first tier enacts an academic “screening” for students to identify those who need targeted or individualized interventions.
MTSS in Action: A Classroom Example
Here’s how an MTSS Tiered Triangle framework might be applied in a school, with the goal of every student being a fluent reader:
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Tier 1 (Universal Support): All students receive high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction in their ELA class. Teachers use a standardized curriculum that is designed to meet the needs of most students.
Tier 2 (Targeted Support): Students identified by their teachers as needing more help than is offered in Tier 1 receive more reading support. This might include smaller group instruction with more frequent progress monitoring. The interventions are targeted, meaning they focus on specific skills such as phonemic awareness or comprehension.
Tier 3 (Intensive Support): Students with significant needs-those not making progress in Tier 2-move into Tier 3, the “top” of the MTSS triangle. This level of support is the most intensive and individualized. It likely includes one-on-one instruction or specialized programs designed to address reading difficulties. The efficacy of these interventions is closely monitored, and progress is assessed regularly to ensure student improvement.
Integrating PBIS with MTSS
Think of PBIS as the portion of MTSS that specifically addresses behavior. PBIS and MTSS work together to support student success. PBIS is a proactive approach to establishing the necessary behavioral supports for students to excel socially, emotionally, and academically. MTSS covers academic and non-academic factors, including behavior. By incorporating behavior data into MTSS decision-making processes, districts can better support students and encourage positive behavior. One way to do this is to use a behavioral support solution where educators can enter incidents in one place, making it easy to identify trends, patterns, and potential behavioral issues using embedded tools.
Benefits of a Fully Implemented MTSS
Fully implemented MTSS can have a significant impact on academic and behavioral outcomes. In Monroe County, MI, targeted efforts at improving student behavior reduced district-wide suspensions by 25%. At the secondary level, suspensions were reduced by 42% and expulsions by 62%.
Starting with MTSS: A Step-by-Step Approach
So, how does a school get started on MTSS processes? Review Student Data: Identify and track student needs with an extensive range of inputs, including the ability to create student plans. The goal when implementing MTSS best practices is to ensure that every student is at the right tier to best support their development.
Engaging Families in the MTSS Process
Getting families on board in every aspect of their child’s education-including interventions-helps them engage with the school community. When families are aware of a school’s MTSS process early on, they can understand its vision and mission. Some schools introduce their MTSS tiers and expectations during orientation and then reinforce main concepts during semi-annual conferences. They often use visuals and flowcharts to explain how the tiers work, and that reiterates that all students start at the first tier. Some schools avoid “Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3” language in favor of “All-Some-Few” charts to explain how tiers work across a school. At Tier 1, schools can support families with strategies for community-wide engagement. For Tier 2, schools can offer tailored engagement opportunities. At Tier 3, schools might create individualized spaces for families participation. PowerSchool Communication products connect families, boost attendance, and empower teachers to support each student's unique needs.
The Role of Technology in MTSS
Choosing the right MTSS technology solution is crucial for effectively implementing and managing the framework in your school or district. Identify your needs and goals. Evaluate what systems you have in place and identify gaps or inefficiencies. Are you looking for a solution that integrates academic and behavioral data? Do you need better data visualization tools? After this, it helps to clearly define your goals. Consider the key features you need and list them in order of priority. Evaluate vendors, training, and ongoing support. Ask vendors if they supply comprehensive training for your staff during initial rollout and afterward. Look for a vendor with strong customer support, quick response time, and timely problem resolution. Make sure you understand the full cost of partnering with the vendor and check that they comply with data safety regulations and education standards. After thoroughly researching and comparing options, create a clear implementation plan to ensure the transition to the system is as smooth as possible.
Maximizing ROI with MTSS Technology
MTSS educational technology is a time and money saver. Think about these questions for each interventionist or teacher. How much time do they spend locating and reviewing multiple data sources, including screener, formative, and summative assessments across different data domains? Investing in modernized systems that provide improved data security is a critical aspect of maximizing your ROI. Data breaches and compliance violations can result in significant financial losses, including legal fees, reputational damage, and potential loss of funding. Much of MTSS data lives precariously in unprotected spreadsheets containing highly sensitive student information. Attendance, assessments, office discipline referrals, and SEL surveys are just a few examples of some of the data that can streamlined with PowerSchool MTSS.
Ensuring Data Security in MTSS
A modern MTSS framework provides better security by centralizing data in one tool that identifies and tracks student needs. A single secure system provides role-based access controls, end-to-end encryption, fully encrypted storage, full auditing, and full data recovery.
Streamlining MTSS Processes
Time spent inefficiently is a waste of money. Time spent executing your MTSS framework is no exception. Educators often jump inefficiently from system to system, spreadsheet to spreadsheet, and form to form to complete the entire MTSS process. As educators navigate between and within these items, they waste precious time that could otherwise be directed toward supporting students. The chaos of “system jumping” impacts implementation fidelity, student outcomes, and efficiency.
Demonstrating the Impact of MTSS
Naturally, district leaders, CAOs, superintendents, and school board members want to know if MTSS investments are making a difference. This means that the people accountable for improving student outcomes are operating in a black hole. While they can see student outcomes like standardized test scores, they can’t see the assigned interventions that led to these outcomes.
PowerSchool and MTSS
Whether your district uses the Diamond model or the Triangle model, PowerSchool can help you enhance your MTSS practice. PowerSchool MTSS is a comprehensive and secure tool to establish personalized student plans and equip intervention teams with critical data to identify student needs, assign and monitor interventions, and track progress toward goals. PowerSchool Communication products connect families, boost attendance, and empower teachers to support each student's unique needs.
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